Rotherham manager Paul Warne has jokingly threatened Leeds United that he will be arming the general public around the club’s training ground ahead of their clash after the spygate saga involving the Whites.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men are embroiled at the heart of controversy in the Championship after the Argentine boss admitted to sending scouts to watch on at a number of their rivals’ training grounds and with Rotherham next to take on the table toppers, Warne has insisted there is not much that can be done to stop it happening.
He told the Sheffield Star: ““I don’t know what you can do. Our pitches are next to a golf club. People can come and play golf and conveniently take ages on green eight while we’re doing set-pieces.
“What can you do, realistically? If they want to send a drone over, you can’t stop anything, can you? Ours is a training ground with pretty open access.
“I’ve got two elder gentlemen who came to the training ground every day. I have told them that I will give them weapons and fully Army gear to protect our border.”
Opinion
This has been one of the biggest talking points in the division this season and plenty seem to be taking Leeds’ controversial approach very seriously. Warne does not appear to share that view, offering a light-hearted response to what might have to be done to stop their rivals from keeping tabs on their training sessions. The truth of the matter is that every side has a different training ground setup and while some are away from the public eye – which makes scouting a real difficulty – there are plenty which sit within the community and as such have little place to hide from prying eyes. Warne is unlikely to get the public involved in defending his team’s secrets but you know that there would be plenty of fans desperate to give their side a helping hand if need be. From now on you could well find supporters scouring bushes around their team’s training pitches in the hunt for Leeds spies – that is how loyal to the cause some football faithfuls are.